Romney Marsh: the fieldwalking evidence (summary)

A programme of fieldwalking was carried out between 1989 and 1991 as part of the research for a thesis concerned with evaluation the land as a source of historical evidence. Over 17,000 sherds of pottery were collected from 103 locations in Romney Marsh, almost all previously unknown. The pottery collected was dated and where possible sources were identified. Survey and recording methods are explained. The distribution of sites and findspots was mapped so that fieldwalking evidence could be studied within the context of its relationship to other significant landscape features.

This paper describes the results of this field survey and its implications. This work has provided much new evidence about settlement, population and land use on the Marsh over the last 2000 years. Above all the project has demonstrated the potential of fieldwalking as a research tool and shown what an extraordinarily valuable resource the Romney Marsh land scape is. Areas of special interest where further study could most fruitfully take place have been highlighted.